Diving into the Blockchain

This is going to be a different kind of post: rather sharing my views on the potential of an emerging technology, I'm hoping that you can briefly share your ideas and that we can create something meaningful and innovative together. Sound fun? Then read on. The technology is Blockchain, and in May-June I'm going to be taking a 6-week Oxford/Said Business School course on Blockchain Strategy. I'm writing this post to collect your perspectives going into it, and then plan to update on progress later in May and then after completing in June.

‘With 80% of banks developing blockchains, and industries from law to aerospace exploring possibilities, the next 5 to 10 years will see massive disruption from blockchain adoption as jobs are automated and new industry applications are created.’ said David Shrier, Associate Fellow at Oxford Sa?d and course Co-convenor of the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme.

I'll assume that most people reading this understand the basics blockchain so I won't go into that but this introductory video from ColdFusion, one of my innovation favourite creators should get you caught up. So why am I taking this course? You'll be glad to know it's not to create a new cryptocurrency and ICO so don't worry I won't be asking you to buy any Whelan-Tokens. My interest is learn how to apply blockchain's properties of transparency, decentralization and cost reduction for social good to make beneficial resources more available to people who need them most. For those of you who knew me back in LA, this is familiar territory from when I was the CEO of a non-profit organisation called Philanthro Productions about 10 years ago. We used the emerging technology of social media to raise awareness and over $300k for charitable organizations and create a network of young volunteer leaders and it is still one of the most rewarding experiences of my lifetime. I still feel a strong desire to give back and my hypothesis is that blockchain now means the time is right to try something ambitious and new.

In short, I have a couple ideas I'm going to start exploring about a) how blockchain can improve access to education, training and certification while increasing trust and credibility; as well as b) improving the transparency of micro-finance for people in developing countries.

So what sort of process or exchange of would you like to improve with blockchain? Where do you see inequality, injustice or simply waste in the world that could be improved? I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or examples of social enterprises or organisations using blockchain to improve transparency and well-being. Lastly, I'm hoping I can actually build a tangible prototype in a few months so please let me know if you know of any tools or people who would be able to help with this too. Thanks!

All views expressed are my own and do not reflect my employer, Accenture Interactive.